Born in 1883, and educated at Saint-Cyr, Henri Lachouque went on to serve in the First World War, participating in the Battle of the Marne in 1914. Wounded, he was invalided out of the French Army having been awarded the Legion d'Honneur and Croix de Guerre. He went on to become a renowned historian, particularly of the First Empire era. He passed away in Paris in October 1971.